Donald Trump is backing up his claim that he has such die-hard supporters, that they would still line up to vote for him even if he shot someone.
“These are people that just won’t leave, they will not leave,” Trump said Sunday by telephone from Iowa on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “It’s a great thing. Far greater loyalty than any other candidate by double, triple, quadruple — and I love my people.”
The GOP presidential frontrunner was explaining the strange comment he made Saturday at a campaign rally in Iowa, saying he “could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.”
“Face the Nation” moderator John Dickerson asked Trump if he was really that confident or if it was just posturing.
“Well, I have a very great group of people, John, I mean, I have people that are so loyal and it’s been so reported and even in your poll, but in a lot of the polls they do that, the loyalty factor,” Trump explained. “And my factor’s up — when you add it all up, it’s pretty much close to 90 percent.”
Trump’s factor may not be quite that high, but he does have a commanding leader over every other Republican candidate.
With about a week left before the first nomination contest in Iowa on Feb. 1, Trump would win with 34 percent support among likely Republican caucus-goers, according to the latest poll from Fox News. That’s an 11-point increase from two weeks ago.
Ted Cruz is in second place, with 23 percent, slightly down from 27 percent in the last poll.
In New Hampshire, Trump leads the GOP field with 31 percent, while Cruz is at 14 percent and Marco Rubio follows with 13 percent.
The polls were conducted between Jan. 18 and 21, and have margins of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.
Watch the video of Trump on “Face the Nation” below. He makes his comment at the 1:02 mark.